FROM SILENCE TO SOMEWHERE

A pleasant Sunday morning in New Zealand and I am transported to the impending winter of Norway. For me, this is the best album of 2017 by a country mile. At first, the atmosphere did remind me of Gazpacho's "Demon" and yes there are hints of the 70's with nods to Yes but to be honest Wobbler have crafted their own sound. There isn't a note wasted during the four tracks on offer as they blend an array of instrumental atmospheres ranging from winter campfires, medieval courts, and Woodstock, as yet another unexpected groove appears from near silence to somewhere. This includes the vocals which are quirky, pleasant and melodic acting as part of the atmosphere rather than a separate entity. The title track and near 20 minute epic, just about carries all of the above and proves that the time taken to put this album together was well worth it. It even shows an improvement on their past offerings in terms of composition, as it weaves ideas together eventually coming back to ideas with variation, techniques unused on their debut "Hinterland" which had been my favorite to date. From then on the album doesn't let up in it's quality and at times actually gets better. The final track "Foxlight" manages to tick many boxes of prog for me. It has the melodic melancholy I enjoy in modern Marillion whilst breaking out into something, whilst nowhere near as heavy, that the more groove style of Black Sabbath might recognise. The only problems I have with this album is that I am finding it difficult to listen to anything else and I am going to have to wait another number of years for their next album.

Highly recommended,